Global warming? Yes. Because of CO2? No

Posted Friday, June 22, 2007, at 9:35 AM

Okay, so just how much carbon dioxide is in our atmosphere?

Anyone care to guess?

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I dunno. Fifty percent?

-- Posted by dyersburg on Fri, Jun 22, 2007, at 1:01 PM

Actually for Carbon Dioxide it's only .038% or 380 ppm. Water vapor, which is 1.5 times more effective as a greenhouse gas, makes up much more of our atmosphere, ranging from 1000 ppm at the poles to as much as 30,000 ppm in the tropics.

And of the 380ppm of CO2, how much is of human origin?

-- Posted by kennethjones on Mon, Jul 9, 2007, at 5:09 PM

Not sure, but I'll hazard a guess of 10 percent. I think millions of cows spread across the American heartland and large swaths of the developing world add to carbon dioxide and methane.

What do you know about global warming's effect on the frozen northern lands - taiga and tundra - of the Northern Hemisphere? Seems I recall reading that if temperatures rise enough to thaw the land, the action releases stored methane and other hexanes and adds to trouble in the atmosphere. So should we be worry about the land becoming warmer? Once that gas is expelled, can we then begin to plow and plant to feed the planet with more land dedicated to farming than now?

-- Posted by dyersburg on Wed, Jul 11, 2007, at 12:43 PM

Just today, S. Fred Singer, Professor Emeritus, Environment Sciences, U. of Virginia, writing in "Imprimis" published by Hillsdale College, addressed the questions you pose. It can be accessed online at: http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis.a...

Strange as it may seem, cows and other ruminants do produce enough CO2 and methane (which is even more of a greenhouse causing gas) to impact our atmosphere. According to this month's issue of Audubon magazine citing a 2006 UN report: "Livestock production worldwide is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. That's more than is created by every scooter, jet, SUV, and big trucking rigs combined." But of course I wouldn't bet too much on any statistics generated by a United Nations Report.

-- Posted by kennethjones on Fri, Aug 31, 2007, at 5:19 PM

As to the other questions concerning the planet warming, It's been warming and cooling long before our relatively recent industrial revolution. If it continues on it's current trend, there will be losers and winners, depending on whether you are farming wheat in Canada, praying for rain here in Tennessee or the Saharan Desert in Northern Africa. Climatologists can only guess, even with there sophisticated computer models, it's still "Chaos Theory" and my opinion is that us humans will have very little cause and effect, or, any real ability to control nature's cycles if we knew how.

-- Posted by kennethjones on Fri, Aug 31, 2007, at 5:25 PM

Most of the recent global-warming alarmists use 1998 as the benchmark for the hottest year on record, but it turns out that their reporting is flawed, the result of a math blunder. In fact, 1934 was the hottest year on record, and four of the ten hottest years in the U. S. were recorded in the 1930s. The second hottest year on record was 1998, but the third hottest was 1921, not 2006. Notably, six of the ten hottest years occurred prior to 90 percent of the economic growth associated with increased greenhouse-gas emissions. What happened to the global cooling that was predicted in the 1970s?

-- Posted by neildoolin on Mon, Sep 3, 2007, at 4:43 AM

I think you are refering to speculation in the 1960's that due to the Milankovich Effect (earth's wobbling on it's axis and perigee's vs. apogees of it's orbit around the sun, closer, further away)and the accumulation of aeorosols in the stratosphere (blocking incoming insolation), that a new ice age could be prematurely triggered. Shortly thereafter, it was argued that CO2 could have the opposite effect, canceling any "cooling" of the planet.

-- Posted by kennethjones on Mon, Sep 3, 2007, at 11:53 AM

For an excellent documentary arguing against manmade global warming, check out this video: The Great Global Warming Swindle by British television producer Martin Durkin, which argues against the scientific opinion that human activity is the main cause of global warming. In is not "politically correct" but that's one of it's strong points along with it's indepth analyses. It's free for download at multiple netsites.

-- Posted by kennethjones on Mon, Sep 3, 2007, at 12:02 PM

What is the cause of the dense spider-web like white covering on some trees in Dyersburg?

-- Posted by dyersburg on Tue, Sep 4, 2007, at 4:30 PM

I am not an expert but I did find this information on the web, it sounds like webworms might be we have. Fall webworms have 2 generations each year and feed on a wide variety of shade trees. Wintering in cocoons in sheltered areas, the adult is a white moth that glues large clusters eggs on to the undersides of leaves in June. These eggs are almost always laid on leaves near the tips of branches. Eggs hatch into caterpillars that feed in groups. They protect themselves from predators by keeping themselves covered with webs. In mid-July, these caterpillars make cocoons in the webs. In late July, a new generation of moths come from these cocoons and lay even more eggs on the trees. By the time the end of August rolls around trees are just covered with webs. Feeding will continue and webs will continue to grow until mid- September.

-- Posted by neildoolin on Thu, Sep 6, 2007, at 5:00 AM

Hyphantria cunea is the scientific name for most of the caterpillars spinning these webs, especially on pecan trees. And yes Neildoolin, what you found is correct. Thanks for saving me the trouble.

-- Posted by kennethjones on Thu, Sep 6, 2007, at 10:27 AM

Those web worms are pretty bad, but we should thank our lucky stars we don't have to deal with anything like the giant horror movie spider web in Texas. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iczi8...

-- Posted by kenteutsch on Thu, Sep 6, 2007, at 11:40 AM

Yeah, I don't believe they've positively ID'd the arachnid species. When they do, I'll pass it on.

-- Posted by kennethjones on Thu, Sep 6, 2007, at 2:55 PM

Arachnids and reptiles give me the creeps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Posted by Johnny Yuma on Mon, Sep 24, 2007, at 10:30 PM

Webworms? Sounds like a computer virus.

-- Posted by gb on Sat, Sep 29, 2007, at 4:30 AM

gb, you're slick................

-- Posted by Johnny Yuma on Tue, Oct 2, 2007, at 4:44 PM